1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to cable distribution enclosures and in particular to a cable distribution center that has a high cable density and provides easy access to cable adapters.
2. Prior Art
After cable is brought into a building for use in transmitting signals for telephone (voice), cable (video), or computers (data), those signals must be distributed throughout the building to typically each desk that requires access to the information being transmitted. To facilitate that distribution, an enclosure is typically utilized to house and manage the dispersal of the fiber. In many cases, as many as 72 fibers are distributed within a single enclosure and several of these enclosures are attached to a rack. In larger systems, a room full of these racks serves as a central hub from which thousands of fibers are distributed. Due to the increasing need for more and more fibers, space has become an issue; hence the need for enclosures with the ability to effectively distribute a higher fiber count within basically the same volume has arisen.
The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by the rack mountable cable distribution enclosure of the invention. The cable distribution enclosure provides a high-density fiber solution for terminating up to 144 fibers, all within a 4 RMS space on a 19xe2x80x3 or 23xe2x80x3 rack. The enclosure is made from high grade steel and both front and rear access doors are durable smoked polycarbonate. These front and rear doors utilize releasable hinges that can therefore be removed by activating the hinge release mechanism. Also, both of these doors are lockable by way of customer-supplied locks. Fiber entry is made available at both sides, at the front and rear of enclosure, and conveniently-located cable tie anchor points are provided for securing incoming cables.
A sliding tray facilitates front and rear adapter access via a unique system of push-pull latches and brackets. The fibers are connected through the use of snap-in adapter plates. Each adapter plate is capable of accommodating up to (6) duplex adapters (2 ports per adapter) such that, with all (12) plates installed, the fiber count=6xc3x972xc3x9712=144. The 4 and 6-port adapter plates include molded-in icon pockets to assist in color coding and port identification. The mounting surface of the adapter plate is angled so as to minimize fiber bend radius and to also reduce the potential of eye damage by minimizing the chance of looking straight into the activated fibers while working around the cable distribution enclosure. These adapter plates are reversible to thus enable angling fiber cable to either the left or right.
The cable distribution enclosure provides an effective system for distributing and managing up to 144 fibers within the same rack space that is normally utilized for a maximum of 72 fibers. There are additional features designed into the cable distribution enclosure which, when compared to other 72-port enclosures, facilitate the installation of the fiber, improve upon management of the fibers, and/or reduce the manufacturing cost.